Open showcase

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides an open showcase capable of installing a commodity displaying element surely without a positional shift and dropping. The upper and lower ends of the commodity displaying element are locked by a pair of upper and lower locking portions of a displaying element holding member, and an extending portion formed on the lower end side of the displaying element holding member is fitted in a fitting groove formed in a decorative frame of a showcase body, so that the commodity displaying element can be held surely by the displaying element holding member, and also the displaying element holding member can be installed surely to the showcase body. Therefore, a positional shift and dropping of the commodity displaying element and the displaying element holding member, which are produced by the touch of a hand on the commodity displaying element caused, for example, when a commodity is taken out, can be prevented.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(i) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an open showcase capable of holding a commodity displaying element for displaying information about a commodity.

(ii) Description of the Related Art

Conventionally, there has been known an open showcase of this type in which in order to install a commodity displaying element for displaying the name, price, and the like of commodity, the commodity displaying element is held in a displaying element holding member that is provided on the upper surface of a decorative frame located at the lower end in the front opening of a showcase body and has locking portions capable of locking the upper and lower ends of the commodity displaying element.

However, since the back surface side of the displaying element holding member is affixed to the upper surface of the decorative frame, a commodity displaying element larger than size in the front and rear direction of the decorative frame cannot be held. For this reason, there is known an open showcase in which the displaying element holding member is formed by a rod-shaped metallic member, and the displaying element holding member is insertedly installed in an air intake port provided on the lower end side of the front opening of the showcase body so that a commodity displaying element having a large vertical size is locked to the displaying element holding member.

However, for the displaying element holding member formed by the rod-shaped metallic member, a hook portion is provided at the upper end of the commodity displaying element, and the hook portion is engaged with the displaying element holding member, by which the commodity displaying element is installed to the displaying element holding member. Therefore, when a user takes out a commodity, there is a possibility that the position of commodity displaying element shifts or the commodity displaying element drops if the user's hand touches the commodity displaying element.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an open showcase capable of installing a commodity displaying element surely without a positional shift and dropping.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides an open showcase including a showcase body having an opening on the front surface thereof; a displaying element holding member having a pair of upper and lower locking portions capable of locking the upper and lower ends of a commodity displaying element for displaying the name, price, and the like of commodity and a fitting portion capable of being fitted detachably to the showcase body side; and a decorative frame which is provided on the lower end side of the opening of the showcase body and has a fitting groove in which the fitting portion of the displaying element holding member can be fitted.

Thereby, since the fitting portion of the displaying element holding member is fitted in the fitting groove provided on the showcase body side, and the locking portions of the displaying element holding member lock the upper and lower ends of the commodity displaying element, the commodity displaying element is held surely by the displaying element holding member, and also the displaying element holding member is installed surely to the showcase body. Therefore, since the commodity displaying element can be held surely by the displaying element holding member, and also the displaying element holding member can be installed surely to the showcase body, a positional shift and dropping of the commodity displaying element and the displaying element holding member, which are produced by the touch of a user's hand on the commodity displaying element caused, for example, when a user takes out a commodity, can be prevented.

The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be made apparent by the following description and accompanied drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a general perspective view of an open showcase in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of an open showcase;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an essential portion of an open showcase;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of an essential portion of an open showcase;

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view of an essential portion of an open showcase, showing a procedure for installing a commodity displaying element;

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of an essential portion of an open showcase, showing a procedure for installing a commodity displaying element;

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of an essential portion of an open showcase, showing a procedure for installing a commodity displaying element;

FIG. 8 is a side sectional view of an essential portion of an open showcase, showing a case where a commodity displaying element having a small vertical size is installed;

FIG. 9 is a side sectional view of an essential portion of an open showcase, showing another example of a displaying element holding member; and

FIG. 10 is a front sectional view of an essential portion of an open showcase, showing still another example of a displaying element holding member.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

This open showcase includes a showcase body 10 having an opening on the front surface, a commodity storage section 20 formed in the showcase body 10, and a plurality of commodity shelves 30 arranged above and below in the commodity storage section 20.

The front surface side, top surface side, back surface side, and bottom surface side of the showcase body 10 is covered by an insulating wall 11, and both of the right and left surface sides thereof are covered by an insulating wall 12 and a glass plate 13.

The commodity storage section 20 is formed by arranging a top surface plate 21, a back surface plate 22, and a bottom plate 23 with a clearance being provided between the commodity storage section 20 and the insulating wall 11, and commodities are stored therein. Also, a ventilation duct 24 is formed between the insulating wall 11 and the top surface plate 21, between the insulating wall 11 and the back surface plate 22, and between the insulating wall 11 and the bottom plate 23, and therein are arranged a blower 25 for allowing the air in the commodity storage section 20 to flow and a cooler 26 for cooling the air flowing in the ventilation duct 24.

Each of the commodity shelves 30 has a shelf plate 31 for mounting commodities and a pair of support members 32 for supporting both end sides in the width direction of the shelf plate 31. Each of the support members is provided with an engagement element 32 a at the rear end thereof, and is supported in the commodity storage section 20 by engaging the engagement element 32 a with an arbitrary engagement hole 33 a in a shelf pillar 33 provided on the back surface side of the commodity storage section 20.

In the open showcase constructed as described above, the air taken into the ventilation duct 24 by the blower 25 through an air intake port 24 a provided at the lower end of the opening flows in the ventilation duct 24 and is cooled by the cooler 26, and thereafter the air is discharged through an air discharge port 24 b provided at the upper end of opening. Thereby, an air curtain is formed in the opening of the showcase body 10, by which the commodity housing section 20 is cooled so that the commodities displayed on the commodity shelves 30 are preserved by being cooled.

Also, in order to install a commodity displaying element A for displaying the name, price, and the like of commodity, this open showcase is provided with a displaying element holding member 40 which is provided detachably on a decorative frame 14 located on the front surface side of the air intake port 24 a and a protective cover 50 for covering the front surface of the displaying element holding member 40.

The displaying element holding member 40 is formed by a plate-shaped member formed of a synthetic resin and extending in the width direction, and is formed so as to have almost the same width as the size in the width direction of the front opening of the showcase body 10. Also, the displaying element holding member 40 is provided so that the front surface thereof is directed slantwise upward, and on the upper end side and the lower end side of the displaying element holding member 40, locking portions 41 capable of locking the upper and lower ends of the commodity displaying element A are formed over the width direction. Further, at the lower end of the displaying element holding member 40, an extending portion 42 extending downward over the width direction is formed so as to serve as a fitting portion. The extending portion 42 is provided so as to be fitted in a fitting groove 14 a provided in the upper surface of the decorative frame 14 over the width direction.

The protective cover 50 is formed by a transparent plate made of a synthetic resin. On the upper end side of the protective cover 50, there is provided a hook-shaped engagement portion 51 capable of engaging with the upper end of the displaying element holding member 40.

In the open showcase constructed as described above, when the name, price, and the like of a commodity displayed in the open showcase are displayed, first, as shown in FIG. 5, the extending portion 42 of the displaying element holding member 40 is fitted in the fitting groove 14 a provided in the decorative frame 14 of the showcase body 10, by which the displaying element holding member 40 is installed to the showcase body 10. Next, the upper end and the lower end of the commodity displaying element A are locked to the locking portions 41 on the upper end side and the lower end side of the displaying element holding member 40, by which the commodity displaying element A is held by the displaying element holding member 40. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6, the engagement portion 51 of the protective cover 50 is engaged with the upper end of the displaying element holding member 40, by which the commodity displaying element A held by the displaying element holding member 40 is covered by the protective cover 50 as shown in FIG. 7.

In the case where the vertical size of the commodity displaying element A installed to the displaying element holding member 40 is smaller than the distance between the locking portions 41 of the displaying element holding member 40, as shown in FIG. 8, the lower end side of the commodity displaying element A is locked by the locking portion 41 on the lower end side. The front surface of the commodity displaying element A locked to the displaying element holding member 40 is covered by the protective cover 50. Thereby, the commodity displaying element A having various sizes can be held by the displaying element holding member 40 regardless of the vertical size of the commodity displaying element A.

Thus, according to this embodiment, the upper end and the lower end of the commodity displaying element A are locked by a pair of upper and lower locking portions 41 of the displaying element holding member 40, and the extending portion 42 formed on the lower end side of the displaying element holding member 40 is fitted in the fitting groove 14 a formed in the decorative frame 14 of the showcase body 10, so that the commodity displaying element A can be held surely by the displaying element holding member 40, and also the displaying element holding member 40 can be installed surely to the showcase body 10. Therefore, a positional shift and dropping of the commodity displaying element A and the displaying element holding member 40, which are produced by the touch of a hand on the commodity displaying element A caused, for example, when a commodity is taken out, can be prevented.

Since the displaying element holding member 40 is formed so as to extend over the width direction of the front opening of the showcase body 10, a commodity displaying element A having a large width dimension or a plurality of commodity displaying elements A can be held by one displaying element holding member 40, and the commodity displaying elements A can be arranged in an orderly way.

Also, since the front surface side of the displaying element holding member 40 is covered by the protective cover 50, the whole of the front surface of the commodity displaying element A can be covered by the protective cover 50, and even in the case where the vertical size of the commodity displaying element A is smaller than the distance between the locking portions 41 of the displaying element holding member 40, the commodity displaying element A can be held by the displaying element holding member 40.

Also, since the displaying element holding member 40 is formed so that the front side surface thereof is directed slantwise upward, the commodity displaying element A can be seen easily from the upside, so that the sales promotion effect to customers can be improved.

In the above-described embodiment, the example is shown in which there are provided the displaying element holding member 40 having, on the front surface side, the paired upper and lower locking portions 41 capable of locking the upper end and the lower end of the commodity displaying element A and the protective cover 50 for covering, from the front surface side, the commodity displaying element A held by the displaying element holding member 40. However, as shown in FIG. 9, a displaying element holding member 60 may be formed of a transparent synthetic resin etc., and on the back surface side thereof, locking portions 61 capable of locking the commodity displaying element A may be formed. In this case, the front surface side of the commodity displaying element A is covered by the displaying element holding member 60, so that the commodity displaying element A can be held without a need for the protective cover 50 on the front surface side. Also, the displaying element holding member 60 is formed so that the locking portion 61 on the lower end side extends upward, so that the commodity displaying element A can be held only by the locking portion 61 on the lower end side. Therefore, the commodity displaying element A having a different vertical size can be held.

Also, in the above-described embodiment, the example is shown in which the displaying element holding member 40 is formed over the width direction of the front opening of the showcase body 10. However, as shown in FIG. 10, a displaying element holding member 70 may be formed so as to have a predetermined width size, and a plurality of displaying element holding members 70 may be arranged in the fitting groove 14 a formed over the width direction of the decorative frame 14. In this case, the displaying element holding members 70 can be arranged at arbitrary positions in the width direction of the decorative frame 14, so that the installation position of the commodity displaying element A can be set freely.

Also, in the above-described embodiment, the example is shown in which the displaying element holding member, 40 is formed of a synthetic resin. However, the displaying element holding member 40 may be formed by a plate-shaped metallic member.

The preferred mode described in this specification is a typical one and not a restrictive one. The scope of invention is shown by the appended claims, and all changes and modifications included in the meaning of claims are embraced in the present invention. 

1. An open showcase comprising: a showcase body having an opening on the front surface thereof; a displaying element holding member having a pair of upper and lower locking portions capable of locking the upper and lower ends of a commodity displaying element for displaying the name, price, and the like of commodity and a fitting portion capable of being fitted detachably to the showcase body side; and a decorative frame which is provided on the lower end side of the opening of the showcase body and has a fitting groove in which the fitting portion of the displaying element holding member can be fitted.
 2. The open showcase according to claim 1, further comprising: a protective cover for covering the front surface side of the displaying element holding member.
 3. The open showcase according to claim 1, wherein: the displaying element holding member has almost the same width size as the width size of the opening of the showcase body.
 4. The open showcase according to claim 2, wherein: the displaying element holding member has almost the same width size as the width size of the opening of the showcase body.
 5. The open showcase according to claim 1, wherein: the displaying element holding member is provided so that the front surface side thereof is directed slantwise upward.
 6. The open showcase according to claim 2, wherein: the displaying element holding member is provided so that the front surface side thereof is directed slantwise upward.
 7. The open showcase according to claim 3, wherein: the displaying element holding member is provided so that the front surface side thereof is directed slantwise upward.
 8. The open showcase according to claim 1, wherein: the fitting groove is provided over the width direction of the decorative frame. 